The center fielder offered a subtle point toward that end a few hours later in the nation's capital.

Jones' 35th home run and 113th and 114th RBI of the year, both team highs, broke a 1-1 stalemate in the fifth inning of Atlanta's 6-1 victory against Washington at RFK Memorial Stadium.

Daryle Ward's three-run, pinch-hit blast in the eighth - his first as a Brave - put the game away.

Ward must have felt at home. Atlanta acquired the journeyman from the Nationals on Aug. 31 for a minor league pitching prospect.

Ward's shot off young Nationals reliever Brett Campbell, an Atlanta-area product, made him the first player in the majors this year to hit pinch-hit homers for two different teams.

The home runs allowed Atlanta's Kyle Davies (3-5) to pick up his first win since April 30. The 22-year-old gave up a run on four hits in five innings, striking out five. He had allowed 16 earned runs in his three starts (14.40 ERA) since returning from groin surgery.

A high pitch count forced him to exit in the sixth, but reliever Oscar Villarreal worked two scoreless innings to get the ball to Atlanta's late-inning guys. By then, Ward had damaged any shot of a rally.

The victory was the Braves' third in a row after they dropped four of five at home.

Jones is now in sole possession of third place on the Atlanta franchise home run list, moving him out of a tie with Hall of Famer Hank Aaron. Only Chipper Jones (354) and Dale Murphy (371) are ahead of him.